WhoDat!656

When the league adopted an enhanced emphasis on illegal contact and defensive holding calls this offseason, there were plenty of people who pointed to the way that the Seahawks’ defensive backs played last season as a reason for the shift.

The Legion of Boom was a physical presence in the passing game, some would argue too physical, and they wound up as the most penalized team in the league on their way to a Super Bowl title. They’ve been called for 21 penalties through two preseason games, a bit over the average of 9.5 flags per team (up from 6.1 last season) per game this summer and tied for seventh overall in the league.

Pete Carroll: NFL open to conversation about adjusting emphasis on pass defense penalties | ProFootballTalk

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

Mardigras9

Carroll found a way to skate around it last year and it got him a superbowl. Now the jig is up.

SaintsBro

I've watched about 4 or 5 non-Saints preseason games this year, and I am really starting to see a lot of what Seattle did last year -- it is happening all over the place, with more teams doing it and sometimes more flags, sometimes not. When the regular season starts, it is going to be at epidemic proportions, and the league will have to either do something or face the reality that the game has very quickly changed into something it never ever was before.

If they throw every flag, the refs will literally decide when the ball advances, decide games based on penalties, and completing the actual pass is no longer important. I saw Carolina take advantage and move the ball with a couple of PI penalties like that last night. Cam ridiculously overthrew, hanky comes out, first down and goal Panthers. If they throw too FEW flags, then what is the point of the pass interference rule in the first place?

Arbitrarily calling or not calling PI, when it starts happening on every play, gives the ref too much latitude to decide or take away first downs -- eventually it will make a mockery of the actual game.

Seattle was the most penalized team -- do you think for one minute, they would give that Lombardi back to have fewer penalties? Every team is going to copy and follow their example. They already are.

Utah_Saint

Awfully big of him to be open to discussion when it's the way he coached his team that started all this nonsense.

|Mitch|

There is no way that they can realistically call the games as tight as they have in the preseason.

Games will be lasting 4+ hours and be boring as hell...

Audiotom

I would rather see them call pi tight in the regulsr season, have it stopping things, then the coaches and backs make the adjustments and stop blatantly holding after a few flag happy games unfold

Last year Talib, Keuchly and Seattle all had a mugfest on Jimmy
Wow, what great shut down defense

TheOak

Every year a new exploitation is found, loophole used; every subsequent year efforts are made to mitigate it. Its the evolution of the NFL that has somewhat been ushered in by the NFL.

When you change the rules to make the game offensively weighted, coaches become lawyers. They sit down with the rule book and look for what isn't written.

If you cant touch the QB, beat on the WR.

dizzle88

Maybe they investigate how many players on Carroll's team keep getting caught taking PED's, they didn't waste time investigating us for the slightest thing

foreverfan

TheOak

Well in all fairness Goodell sent us a memo asking us to stop, which is what preceded our investigation.

He will not ask them to stop